


You Are Okay, Right?

by MetamorphicRocky



Series: Dadspeed [1]
Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Avo is mentioned, Dadspeed, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Isolation, LIKE...I MEAN S P O I L E R S, PTSD, SPOILERS FOR S2 EP4, god that episode destroyed me emotionally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 23:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19840483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetamorphicRocky/pseuds/MetamorphicRocky
Summary: Spoilers for season 2 episode 4 of Final Space, The Other Side.When the crew of the Crimson Light breaks the barrier between them and Little Cato, he doesn't come back the same. Gary knows what being alone feels like, and he just wants to help his Spidercat recover from 60 long years of isolation.





	You Are Okay, Right?

Gary watched in agony as Little Cato briskly slipped past the group to go to his room, wanting to ask again if he was okay, but knowing that it wouldn't change what the kid had been through. He was at a loss. For words, actions, everything.

"Fox?" The teen's attention was grabbed instantly by Gary shattering the silence that fell over the ship after Little Cato's footsteps faded away. "I need to switch rooms with you for a little while, to keep an eye on him. If that's okay."

"Um, yeah. Yeah, of course...," Fox said, trailing off uncertainly at the end.

Gary released a shuddering breath, his hands shaking as he rubbed them along his face. He never really knew what he was doing with Little Cato, or how to properly take care of him and help him deal with everything he had been through. But after today? Oh boy, he was in deep.

He needed to...to...check up on him. Yeah, Gary should check up on him. He could do that and work from there. Gary quickly walked toward the Ventrexian's room, slight panic encompassing him the closer he got. 

And oh wow he was already there. Okay, that was quicker than he expected. To be honest, Gary was ridiculously worried, so he might have started running at some point. His heart beat wildly in his chest, not knowing what to anticipate behind the door. It was quiet, and Gary knew from experience that silence like this spelled trouble.

He was scared, to say the least. What position would he find his Spidercat in? The possibilities ran through Gary's mind, but he was just stalling at this point. It was time to go in. 

Without thinking any further, Gary opened the door to see...Little Cato, limbs splayed across his bed as he slept. 

"Oh, thank god," Gary said, collapsing into the desk chair with a thud. He took in a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair roughly. Oh boy was he not ready for any of this.

"Chookity?"

Gary whipped his head up to see Mooncake hovering right in front of him, a sad look in his eyes. Gary motioned for him, and his little friend instantly snuggled up against his chest.

"Mooncake, Avocato never should have let me take care of his boy. All I ever do is mess it up," Gary whispered. "I don't know if I can fix this, or if there even is a way to do that. But now, Little Cato is...."

He choked on his words and folded himself over Mooncake, trying to breathe deeply and avoid waking up the traumatized boy to his right. Traumatized was an understatement, and that only made Gary feel like even more of a failure. 

The blond leaned back in the chair, staring aimlessly up at the ceiling. His vision blurred ever so slightly, but he blinked the tears away as quickly as they came.

"I just want him to be happy, Mooncake, but he keeps on getting hurt from just being around me," Gary said miserably. 

Mooncake hummed sadly, nuzzling into Gary in an attempt to cheer him up. He smiled sadly and gave his buddy's head a stroke, and that was when he noticed eyes blinking sleepily at him.

Gary shot up, startling Mooncake, and just watched in silence as Little Cato's eyes opened more and more, to finally focus on Gary's face. Seeing the man must have startled him, because the boy shot up as well and shut his eyes. His small hands quickly covered his face, and Little Cato muttered, "Go away."

The human blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I know this is a dream, so just go away. I don't want to see him right now," Little Cato explained, further hiding himself from view. 

"This isn't a dream, Little Cato. I'm really–"

"No, you're not!" Little Cato cut off exasperatedly. He moved his hands away, and Gary saw the pain in his eyes as he looked at him. "I know the difference between reality and a dream, and Gary is dead. So, go away, because you're not gonna convince me."

Little Cato's voice cracked at the end, and so did Gary's heart. How often did the kid have to deal with things like this that he immediately would brush Gary off as a dream? Oh, Gary was not the right guy for this, yet it didn't matter because he was the only one there to do it.

"So, this is all a dream?" Gary asked softly. 

The kid's ears flopped over sadly as he nodded.

"Okay," Gary said. "Just because it's a dream, that doesn't mean I have to go away, does it?"

Little Cato flicked his eyes toward Gary miserably and shook his head as he folded into himself. God, he looked so small sitting there like that. This was the Little Cato who was alone for sixty years, and not the ball of energy Gary was with mere hours ago. The blond didn't necessarily want to think about how his Spidercat was in complete isolation for over half a century, so he focused on helping the kid instead by speedily climbing the bunk's ladder to sit next to Cato. 

"I'm sorry," Little Cato whispered.

Gary shuffled closer to him. "Why are you sorry?"

"I'm just some dumb kid who you got stuck with, and you died because of me. It took me sixty years to make any progress on something to save us. I'm nothing like you, you would have been able to do it so easily, and–!"

"Hey, I'm gonna cut you off right there. You don't need to get started on that guilt train, okay?" Gary demanded softly. Little Cato twisted his tail in his lap, staring down at his distraction intently. "And, I'm gonna need you to look at Gary."

The kid followed the instructions, and Gary felt his chest constrict the moment he saw the tears slowly streaming down his face. His hands immediately went to Little Cato's cheeks, his thumbs wiping away the tears as the young Ventrexian leaned into Gary's touch. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Little Cato cried, trying to push Gary off without any actual desire for the touch to stop. 

Gary sighed deeply and quickly shushed Little Cato, his voice pitched to a comforting tone, "Hey, no, stop that, little buddy. Now, listen to Gary. None of this, and I really mean none, was your fault. You do a great job with everything you do, and I am so proud of everything you've accomplished, okay?"

The kid nodded and sniffled, and Gary nodded back. "And neither of us planned on being together like this, but I would never think of it as being stuck with you. You're my Spidercat, and I wouldn't change that for anything. Understand?"

"Yeah," Little Cato said, wiping away some of his tears.

"If you get those thoughts again, tell me so that me and Mooncake can beat them up for you." Gary smirked and threw his fists around, pretending to punch something that wasn't there. It made Little Cato laugh wetly, so a small, genuine smile grew on Gary's face as Mooncake snuggled up against the kid for a hug.

Gary took this opportunity to pull the boy close to him, hugging him against his chest, a hand carding through the fur on the back of his head. Little Cato scrambled for purchase on Gary's leather jacket, and he let out a shuddering breath. Gary felt his head land on his shoulder, and the blond repositioned them so that the kid's head sat in the crook of his neck. 

This was how they sat for several minutes, Little Cato trembling in his guardian's arms as Gary tried his best to keep the kid as calm as possible, until Little Cato interrupted the silence. 

"I don't want to be alone again," Little Cato said, the words muffled by Gary's jacket. "I miss you, Thunderbandit. I wish this was real."

Gary squeezed the kid once for reassurance and ran his hand up and down his back quickly. Hearing Little Cato talk as if all of this would be forgotten when he woke up absolutely crushed Gary's heart. "As long as I draw breath, that will never happen. We'll get through this together, as a team."

"As a squad," Little Cato finished.

The kid wasn't okay now, but Gary would make damn sure that he was soon. 

"Go back to sleep, Spidercat. And I'll still be here when you wake up."

Gary leaned against the wall to act as the kid's pillow for the night, so Little Cato quickly got comfortable enough to drift off to sleep again after he spent all of his energy. The man smiled sadly as he watched Little Cato curl up next to him, Mooncake contentedly being held in his small arms. The gentle rise and fall of his Spidercat's chest assured Gary that the kid could push through this with a little help, as well as luring Gary into a calm that allowed him to fall asleep, his head pillowed gently on top of Little Cato's.

So, when Nightfall came in to check on them later, she just smiled and laid a blanket across the boys to avoid disturbing their much needed rest.

**Author's Note:**

> This episode fucked me up. Like a lot. Olan really decided to rip my heart out, run it over with a semi, chop it up into pieces, and then hand it back to me. 
> 
> My baby cat needs to be okay so I wrote this because I needed him to get a hug from his dad Gary, and who better to help him cope than the man who was isolated in space, too. 
> 
> Come yell with me about Final Space on my tumblr of the same name because I will 100% be crying over this ep for years.


End file.
